KINGDOM

FUNGI
Presentation by- SHSHANK
SHARMA
 Introduction

R.H Whittaker in 1960 proposed a five kingdom classification. The

kingdoms defined by him were named
Monera, Protista, Fungi, Plantae, Animalia.
The main criteria for classification used by him include cell structure,
thallus organisation, mode of nutrition, reproduction and
phylogenetic relationships.
https://microbenotes.com/five-kingdom-system-of-classification-features-and-
limitations/
 Overview
The fungi constitute a unique kingdom of heterotrophic
organisms.
They show a great diversity in morphology and habitat.
When your bread develops a mould or your orange rots it is
because of fungi. The common mushroom you eat and toadstools
are also fungi. White spots seen on mustard leaves are due to a
parasitic fungus. Some unicellular fungi, e.g., yeast are used to
make bread and beer.
Other fungi cause diseases in plants and animals; wheat rust-
causing Puccinia is an important example. Some are the source of
antibiotics, e.g., Penicillium.
Have you ever wondered why we keep food in the refrigerator?
Yes, it is to prevent food from going bad due to bacterial or fungal
infections.
 Charactersti
cs
1.Fungi are cosmopolitan and occur in air, water, soil and on animals and plants.

2.They prefer to grow in warm and humid places.

3.The cell walls of fungi are composed of chitin and polysaccharides.

4.Most fungi are heterotrophic and absorb soluble organic matter from dead
substrates and hence are called saprophytes. Those that depend on living
plants and animals are called parasites. They can also live as symbionts - in

association with algae as lichens and with roots of higher plants as mycorrhiza.
• With the exception of yeasts which are unicellular, fungi are filamentous.
• Their bodies consist of long, slender thread-like structures called hyphae.
• The network of hyphae is known as mycelium.
• Some hyphae are continuous tubes filled with multinucleated cytoplasm
– these are called coenocytic hyphae. Others have septae or cross walls
in their hyphae.
Reproducti
on
Reproduction in fungi can take place by vegetative
means- fragmentation, fission and budding.

Asexual reproduction is by spores called conidia

or sporangiospores or zoospores, and sexual
reproduction is by oospores, ascospores and
basidiospores.
The various spores are produced in distinct
structures called fruiting bodies.

The sexual cycle involves the following three

steps:
(i)Fusion of protoplasms between two motile or
non-motile gametes called plasmogamy.
(ii) Fusion of two nuclei called karyogamy.
(iii) Meiosis in zygote resulting in haploid spores.
 CLASSIFICATIO
N
Kingdom Fungi is classified into 4
types:-
1.Phycomycetes
2.Ascomycetes
3.Basidiomycetes
4.Deutromycetes
 PHYCOMYCET
ESin aquatic habitats and on decaying
• Members of phycomycetes are found
wood in moist and damp places or as obligate parasites on plants.
• The mycelium is aseptate and coenocytic.
• Asexual reproduction takes place by zoospores (motile) or by aplanospores
(non-motile). These spores are endogenously produced in sporangium. A
zygospore is formed by fusion of two gametes. These gametes are similar
in morphology (isogamous) or dissimilar (anisogamous or oogamous).
• Some common examples are Mucor, Rhizopus (the bread mould mentioned
earlier) and Albugo (the parasitic fungi on mustard).

https://
en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Albugo
https://
www.sciencephoto.co
m/media/1219411/
view/rhizopus-fungus-
 ASCOMYCET
• Commonly known as sac-fungi, the ascomycetes are mostly multicellular, e.g.,
ES
Penicillium, or rarely unicellular, e.g., yeast (Saccharomyces).
• They are saprophytic, decomposers, parasitic or coprophilous (growing on dung).
• Mycelium is branched and septate.
• The asexual spores are conidia produced exogenously on the special mycelium called
conidiophores.
• Conidia on germination produce mycelium. Sexual spores are called ascospores which
are produced endogenously in sac like asci (singular ascus). These asci are arranged in
different types of fruiting bodies called ascocarps.

https://plantlet.org/
identification-of-
ascomycetes-the-sac-
fungi/
 Some examples are Aspergillus, Claviceps and Neurospora.
Neurospora is used extensively in biochemical and genetic work.
Many members like morels and truffles are edible and are considered
delicacies.

https:// https://www.britannica.com/science/
www.pinterest.com/pin/ Claviceps
 BASIDIOMYCET
• Commonly known
puffballs.
ES
forms of basidiomycetes are mushrooms, bracket fungi or

• They grow in soil, on logs and tree stumps and in living plant bodies as parasites,
e.g., rusts and smuts.
• The mycelium is branched and septate.
• The asexual spores are generally not found, but vegetative reproduction by
fragmentation is common.
• The sex organs are absent, but plasmogamy is brought about by fusion of two
vegetative or somatic cells of different strains or genotypes. The resultant structure
is dikaryotic which ultimately gives rise to basidium. Karyogamy and meiosis take
place in the basidium producing four basidiospores.
• The basidiospores are exogenously produced on the basidium (pl.: basidia).
 Agaricus Ustilago Puccinia (rust
(mushroom) (smut)
https://www.alamy.com/corn-smut-
fungus)
https:// https://www.flickr.com/photos/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ ustilago-maydis-smut-fungus- aarnijaheka/51314031459
Agaricus_campestris ustilaginales-image2361540.html

Basidiomycetes inhabit a wide range of ecological niches, carrying out vital

ecosystem roles, particularly in carbon cycling and as symbiotic partners
with a range of other organisms.
 DEUTEROMYCET
ES only the asexual or vegetative phases of
• Commonly known as imperfect fungi because
these fungi are known.
• When the sexual forms of these fungi were discovered they were moved into classes
they rightly belong to.
• It is also possible that the asexual and vegetative stage have been given one name
(and placed under deuteromycetes) and the sexual stage another (and placed under
another class).
• Later when the linkages were established, the fungi were correctly identified and moved
out of deuteromycetes. Once perfect (sexual) stages of members of dueteromycetes
were discovered they were often moved to ascomycetes and basidiomycetes. The
deuteromycetes reproduce only by asexual spores known as conidia.
• The mycelium is septate and branched.
Some members are saprophytes or parasites while a large number of them are
decomposers of litter and help in mineral cycling.

Alternaria Trichoderm
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/mycology/fungal-
descriptions-and-antifungal-susceptibility/ a
https://waytogrow.net/blogs/plant-nutrition/
hyphomycetes-conidial-moulds/alternaria trichoderma-a-biofungicide
 USES OF
FUNGI
1.Recycling – They play a major role in recycling the dead and decayed matter.

2.Food – The mushrooms species which are cultured are edible and are used as
food by humans.

3.Medicines – There are many fungi that are used to produce antibiotics and to
control diseases in humans and animals. Penicillin antibiotic is derived from a
common fungus called Penicillium.

4.Biocontrol Agents – Fungi are involved in exploiting insects, other small worms
and help in controlling pests. Spores of fungi are used as a spray on crops.

5.Food spoilage – Fungi play a major role in recycling organic material and are
also responsible for major spoilage and economic losses of stored food.
 DISEASES CAUSED BY
FUNGI
1.Ringworm: A common fungal skin infection that can appear as a rash.

2.Athlete's foot: A common fungal infection of the foot that can cause blisters,

discoloration, itching, and peeling.

3.Vaginal yeast infection: A common fungal infection that can cause pain,
itchiness,
swelling, redness, and clumpy discharge.

4.Oral thrush: A yeast infection in the mouth or throat that causes white
patches. https:// https://
my.clevelandclinic.org www.healthline.
/health/diseases/ com/health/
4560-ringworm thrush
THANK
YOU